PUNJAB Engineering College (PEC) has terminated 10 students of Bachelor of Engineering-I for poor academic performance.

The terminated students say the college should not have made such a harsh decision. According to one student, who did not wish to be named, there were many other students who had a poor Semester Grade Point Average (SGPA), but had not been terminated.

PEC Director Vijay Gupta, however, said the Academic Performance Evaluation Committee had recommended the termination of 20 students because of their poor performance in exams, but the Senate decided to terminate only 10 since the others’ performance had improved in the previous semester. Gupta added, “All the instructions regarding action to be taken against those who do not fare well in exams are in the student handbook. Students are aware of these rules right from the beginning. In addition, I had called these students before the semester started and suggested that they take less than five courses to cope up.”

He said the students had been told that even if they do not earn the required number of credits due to reduced number of courses, no action would be taken as long as they fare well in exams. “The students also gave an undertaking that they can be stopped from taking any exam if they do not perform well,” said Gupta.

Students wishing to remain on the college rolls will now have to make an appeal at the Senate meeting to be held on June 20. The students will have to give reasons for his/her performance and also explain why he/she merits reconsideration.

A terminated student speaking on condition of anonymity said he had been barred from writing an exam due to shortage of attendance. “I didn’t receive any intimation. I was told on the morning of the exam,’’ he said. Some students said they had been unable to perform well due to family problems, others found the syllabus tough to cope with.